(Spoilers) Give Mundi an Item Prompt

[Literally Who]

You know how most NPCs that have interractions with objects from your inventory have this pop-up window where you have to choose the correct item? That's the one I'm talking about.

For a good while I had no idea Mundi could be made to interract with Shiidu. I'd talk to her, see her dialog, and assume that because she has no item prompt (like every other ghost I've ever met that could be made to snap out of their trauma haze, including the ship ghosts, the Seasonne number 3 ghost, and all the saveable ghosts in Tai Ming) - she is doomed to stay there and stew in her anguish for the rest of eternity, much like a good half a dozen or so other ghosts in Tai Ming that we can't assist in any way, shape, or form, which is why I never even tried to bring Shiidu to her, since I thought she followed that previously consistent pattern.

So for the sake of keeping it intuitive, I figured I would offer this suggestion for your consideration. Unless, of course, you wish to keep it as an obscure secret, which I'm not sure is worth it.

Small pipedream sidenote, but I wish there were ways of assisting the other ghosts in Tai Ming with moving on as well. Must be miserable to spend an eternity looping through the last moments of your life before you kicked the bucket.

 

[Own]

Shiidu talks about her if you put him on your wall and Mundi has blue text indicating a want to see her friend, while sitting outside of the room Shiidu was kept in. You see her twice across Tai Ming taking care of and talking with Shiidu.

That's more than enough hints for truly perceptive people to figure out how to help her move on. The ultimate shield being a hidden, optional unlock instead of just one more checkbox on the completion list is a good decision, I think.

I think a while ago I suggested the fortune teller in town having a [!] prompt where she says "A soul deep within Tai Ming seeks their friend..." if you leave the final dungeon after beating Dad and go back to Evergrind, for people who are truly stuck and struggling.

 

[Literally Who]

And the fisherman talks about bringing him caught fish, which I never got to do either.

It's clear that she and Shiidu are closely connected, I remembered as much when I first talked to her ghost, but because she had nothing indicating interactivity (she doesn't even react if you have Shiidu in your inventory, you have to equip the bastard), I never assumed it was anything more than a dead end, which there are more than one of in this game, including but not limited to the aforementioned fisherman and a number of dolls and plushies scattered along the world that sit in the key item section and can't be vendored, indicating some deeper purpose than just random fodder.

The colored emphasis in NPC dialog is used too liberally and randomly to serve as a proper hint.

If the fortune teller offered what you are describing - the whole interraction would no longer be anything in the same solar system as a secret, and would just be the long way around the same problem I'm suggesting to deal with, except my suggestion doesn't stack bandaid solutions on top of a problem that already has a non-bandaid solution to it which has been used by the game several times by that point.

If you want this to remain as obscure as it is for the sake of it being a secret off the beaten path that only the worthy get to figure out - that's a stance I can understand, although not one I consider sound gamedesign-wise given the established mechanics, but in that case your fortune teller suggestion is detrimental to that intention. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[Own]

And the fisherman talks about bringing him caught fish, which I never got to do either.

Which has recently been fixed.

If the fortune teller offered what you are describing - the whole interraction would no longer be anything in the same solar system as a secret

The difference being that her having an item prompt makes it something everyone will do as part of "Oh, there's something to do here, let me check this off right quick" and the Fortune Teller mentioning someone missing their friend if you leave after beating Dad is something that would only be seen as a last resort by people who have tried, failed and given up on beating Zhamla. A very small number of players who absolutely need a supershield.

 

[Literally Who]

Which has recently been fixed.

One down, several more to go.

The difference being that her having an item prompt makes it something everyone will do as part of "Oh, there's something to do here, let me check this off right quick" and the Fortune Teller mentioning someone missing their friend if you leave after beating Dad is something that would only be seen as a last resort by people who have tried, failed and given up on beating Zhamla. A very small number of players who absolutely need a supershield.

A secret reserved for the "worthy" to find and a crutch that you hand-hold the failing players on the way towards are two features that do not mesh well when crammed into the same spot. Punishing players for being successful is not something most games do either, and they don't do it for a reason.